Deficit Reduction on the Backs of the Most Vulnerable

Those Least Able to Sacrifice Are Asked to Give Up the Most

The House GOP is boasting that their spending bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 makes the largest cuts to domestic annual spending in history. But you don’t hear them boasting that these cuts will cut unemployed workers off of job training, force low-income veterans into homelessness, result in millions of low-income college students losing some or all of their education aid, or cause tens of thousands of vulnerable seniors to lose access to home-delivered food baskets.

Congress recently proposed a short-term bill to avoid a government shutdown. It contains smaller, more reasonable cuts to fund the government for two weeks while negotiations continue on a full-year funding bill. But the GOP position is reflected in the cuts below, which they proposed in their original continuing resolution for FY2011.

Cuts in the GOP bill would essentially wipe out the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Contingency Fund for the rest of 2011. The fund helps families cope with harsh weather conditions and spiking fuel costs.[1]

Sadly, not everyone is being asked to share in this sacrifice. The latest census data show that from 2008 to 2009 almost everyone’s income continued to fall in the Great Recession except for the top 5 percent of Americans.

We should be looking at both spending and revenue to address the deficit. Just one year of the tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 per year is worth more than twice as much as much in deficit reduction as the cuts inflicted on programs assisting low-income families combined (see appendix for sampling of programs).

We all agree that we need to tackle our long-term deficits. But the House GOP proposal apportions most of the sacrifice to low-income families, homeless vets, and disabled and elderly Americans, instead of taking a balanced approach and examining the entire budget for wasteful tax expenditures, unnecessary military spending, targeted spending cuts, or fair and efficient ways to raise revenue.

Endnotes

[1]. The House slashed nearly $400 million from a $590 million fund. But because $150 million had already been spent only about $65 million would remain for the rest of the year to deal with heating or cooling needs.

[2]. This number includes 61,000 Head Start and Early Head Start slots slated to expire under the Recovery Act.